Court Personnel Finalized... Trials of Cho Kuk and Blue House Election Interference Accelerate

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Jo] With the completion of the regular court personnel reshuffle, trials of major cases that had been somewhat slow are expected to proceed swiftly. These include the family corruption case of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk and the Blue House's alleged interference in the Ulsan mayoral election.

These cases are being handled by the Criminal Division 21 of the Seoul Central District Court. Until now, the progress of the trials had been relatively slow due to speculation about the possible transfer of Chief Judge Kim Miri. However, with Chief Judge Kim's retention announced on the 6th in the nationwide personnel reshuffle of district court chief judges and below by the Supreme Court, the 'personnel risk' has been eliminated. Although there remains a possibility of transfer through future judicial workload redistribution, the consensus is that the likelihood of replacement is low since Chief Judge Kim has been presiding over the current panel for less than a year. This creates conditions for the trial panel to focus on case hearings.

These cases were assigned to the respective trial panel last month and this month and classified as 'timely processing important cases.' When designated as timely processing important cases, they are prioritized over other cases, and the intervals between hearings are shortened, enabling swift trial proceedings. The court designates cases that may cause exhausting disputes if delayed as timely processing cases. Representative examples include the state affairs manipulation case in which former President Park Geun-hye was indicted and the judicial manipulation case involving former Chief Justice Yang Seung-tae. However, despite being classified as timely processing important cases, neither the first trial nor even the preparatory hearing has been held yet for the family corruption case of former Minister Cho and the Blue House election interference case.

The trial panel plans to hold the first preparatory hearing for former Minister Cho's family corruption case on the 12th. This will be the first trial procedure conducted after removing the 'personnel risk.' From that day, the panel will begin full hearings on the case. Regarding the Blue House election interference case, in which 13 people including Ulsan Mayor Song Cheol-ho were collectively indicted, the first hearing is expected to be scheduled soon as notification letters regarding the recent application for inspection and copying of trial records have been sent to the defendants.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.